Wednesday, May 9, 2012

I Love a Good Estate Sale (Auction)

As I've mentioned before, to me an estate sale is an auction.  People from all over the community come together and purchase items belonging to a departed friend and community member.  It is always a sad day for the family, but quite often, the community gathers and makes it a fun occasion.  There is a lot of visiting and reminiscing as items are sold.

This past weekend I went to an estate sale in the town I teach in.  The sale was for the grandmother of a lady I work with.  Things were going for a pretty high price, in my opinion, and I didn't care much for the auctioneers, who liked to jump around instead of selling from one end of the table to another.  You could also be trying to bid on something, literally shouting at the ring men your bid, and they would ignore you.  Unless they do an auction for someone else I know, I probably won't be returning to one of their sales.

Anyway, let's take a look at what came home with me!

I have gotten to the point that I won't take my pickup to a sale, because then I can't bring home any furniture.  However, you can get furniture into the Buick, if you get creative.



My favorite piece that I brought home is this amazing swivel rocker.  It looks like it is brand new, and is stamped with a manufacturing date of March 21, 1958.  I actually believe that it has been reupholstered at some point, but the fabric has a great mid-century feel to it, and they went to great lengths to put the original design detail back in to the fabric on the back of the chair.  I paid more for it than I usually would, but I have never come across a piece in such amazing condition, so now it is mine!  $37.50.


I also picked up this Duncan Phyfe style coffee table.  It has an inlaid glass top.  It is badly in need of being refinished, but fortunately, that is one of my hobbies, so by the end of the summer, it will be looking great.  I can't wait to be using it in my living room.  The smaller size of this piece is much more fitting for the long living room than the coffee table I currently have.  $10.


I also picked up this vintage Pyrex percolator.  I have never seen one in person with this style of handle.  It was a decent deal at $11.  And a couple of lidded Pyrex pieces, one of which is a Christmas promotional.



A few vintage aluminum tumblers, a vintage thermos, and some vintage aluminum ice cube trays pretty much rounds out my finds!  Does anybody else still use vintage aluminum ice cube trays?  I don't know what I'd do without mine.

Have a great Wednesday!

5 comments:

  1. That is a classy chair. Great find. I used to have some aluminum ice trays and some of those aluminum cups, and I got rid of them all when they started looking beat up. That was a mistake! I miss them.

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  2. I would have tried to get that chair in my honda civic it's so great! Love the pyrex and that thermos... gotta love a good thermos. Fun finds.

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  3. Wow! In my book you got fantastic deals. That chair would go for at least $150 here, especially since the reupholstery job is so well done. Congratulations!

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  4. $37.50 for that chair? Wow, did you score! I remember my mother coming unglued trying to get the cubes out of our aluminum ice trays--she ran so much hot water over them that they were half melted before they popped out. And don't forget the increasingly loud banging on the counter as another way to dislodge them. Believe me, as soon as the plastic trays came out, out went the aluminum! Good to hear you use yours, though. I can't drink out of aluminum tumblers--for some reason they make my teeth hurt!

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